


all we are is skin and bone

by dharmainitiative



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Dex be like "aggressively caring noises", Light Angst, M/M, Post Haus 2.0, Pre-Relationship, Sharing a Bed, bed sharing, nursey's sports injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22759522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dharmainitiative/pseuds/dharmainitiative
Summary: The thing is, Dex is a slight sleeper.Or: when Nursey can't make it to his bunk, Dex lets him sleep in his.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Comments: 12
Kudos: 281





	all we are is skin and bone

**Author's Note:**

> me, writing a short fic? it's more likely than you'd think
> 
> Takes place after Nursey's injury but before Dex moves out (or maybe canon divergent au where Dex doesn't move out at all??? idk you decide)
> 
> title from treacherous by taylor swift because i'm physically incapable of writing a fic without using taylor swift lyrics in the title apparently

The thing is, Dex is a light sleeper. He always has been, ever since he was a kid, was always waking up in the middle of the night when his bedroom ceiling started leaking after the rain, or when his younger brother got out of bed to use the bathroom. And it got even worse when he started rooming with Nursey, who’s louder than he realizes, especially in the middle of the night when he’s trying to climb into the top bunk.

And tonight, when he wakes up to a loud slam and then a quieter, “Ow,” is no different.

Dex blinks awake with a start, and after his eyes become accustomed to the darkness in his room, he just barely makes out Nursey’s figure at the ladder to his bunk. He sighs. “What the fuck did you do?”

“You’re awake?” Nursey says in a loud whisper. All of his whispers are loud, actually, and Dex is about to snap back that he  _ wasn’t  _ awake until Nursey decided to make a racket, but then Nursey’s saying, “I may or may not have stubbed my toe.”

_ Jesus Christ.  _

“You okay?”

“Like you’d care.”

Dex blinks in surprise, because that wasn’t quite the response he was expecting, especially in such a snippy tone. But before he can think of anything to say, there’s another small thud, and Nursey curses. 

“Dude, what are you even trying to do?”

“I’m  _ trying  _ to get into my bunk,” Nursey says through gritted teeth. “But it’s so hard to get up here with my sports inj – ” He hesitates, then continues, “With my cast, and it’s even harder in the dark, and I didn’t want to turn the lights on because I knew you’d wake up and scream at me.”

Dex rolls his eyes in the dark. “Oh my God, I would not have  _ screamed  _ at you  – ”

“Oh? Just like you’re not screaming at me right now?” 

Dex snaps his mouth shut. Nursey huffs, and then resumes his battle with the ladder. When, after more loud slams and mumbled curses, Dex determines the battle is going unsuccessfully, he asks, “What time is it, anyway?”

“I don’t know. Like three, I think.”

“Jesus,” Dex says. “Why are you up so late?”

“I had to finish a paper,” Nursey says quietly. “The cast makes it harder to type.”

And then, to Dex’s horror, he hears a quiet, sniffling noise.

“Nursey?” He asks hesitantly.

“God, this is so  _ stupid, _ ” Nursey says wetly, and oh shit, he  _ is  _ crying. “I can’t play, I can’t do my assignments, and I can’t even climb up the fucking ladder to my bed so I can go to sleep, and  – ”

“Hey,” Dex interrupts, sitting up and inwardly panicking, because he is so not prepared to deal with a  _ crying  _ Derek Nurse, what the fuck, “Derek, it’s okay. Look, if it’s that big of a deal, you can just  – you can just take my bunk, alright?”

Nursey is quiet. Then, “What? Why would you let me take your bunk?”

Dex scoffs. “I don’t know, because you’re frustrated and you’re crying and it’s 3 am?”

“I’m not crying,” Nursey says, right before letting out another sniffle.

“Nursey  – ”

“If I take your bunk, where are you going to sleep?”

“Your bunk, obviously.”

“But you’re scared of heights,” Nursey argues.

Dex is scared of heights, actually, though he was sort of hoping Nursey would conveniently forget about that crucial detail. It’s the main reason Nursey’s clumsy ass got the top bunk at all. 

“Fine, then I’ll go sleep in Chowder’s room.”

“Isn’t Farmer over?”

“Goddammit, Nursey, then we’ll share the bunk, alright?”

An awkward silence hangs heavy in the room. Finally, Nursey says, uncertainly, “Dex…”

Dex sighs, frustrated. “Look. It’s 3 am, and I’m exhausted, and I want to go back to sleep. We can share, or you can continue to stub all your toes trying to climb a ladder. It’s up to you.”

Dex watches Nursey’s still figure in the dark, waiting for an answer. When he doesn’t get one, he makes up his mind to go back to sleep and let Nursey continue his fight with the ladder, but just as he’s starting to turn over, Nursey silently makes his way to Dex’s bed.

Dex only gives himself a few moments to be surprised before he slides over to make room, and Nursey climbs into his bed and pulls the blankets up to cover them both. 

The two of them lie there in uncomfortable silence, and it occurs to Dex suddenly that this was a very terrible idea. Nursey is  _ here,  _ lying right next to him, in his  _ bed.  _ What the fuck. Maybe he should’ve agreed to third wheel with Chowder and Farmer, or taken the gross couch in the living room, or even bunked with Bitty, because hell, anything is better than lying rigid and uncomfortable next to Nursey for an entire night.

At long last, Dex feels like it’d be better to say something,  _ anything, _ rather than continue to lie next to Nursey in awkward silence, so he clears his throat and says, lamely, “I, uh...I didn’t know the cast was that bad.”

Nursey huffs, not angry or annoyed, but more resigned than anything else. “Yeah, well.”

Dex frowns to himself in the darkness, and the queasy feeling that’s been churning in his gut since Nursey woke him up churns harder, and Dex realizes with a start that it’s guilt. He feels  _ bad –  _ because Nursey’s upset, and his injury is worse than Dex realized, and worst of all, Dex has been giving him shit about it for weeks.

But hell, how was he supposed to know? Nursey’s been nothing but jovial since the injury, asking everyone to sign his cast and gleefully demanding Dex bring him his textbooks and help him up to his bunk. Just the other day, he’d thrown around the phrase “sports injury” about ten times, just to get under Dex’s skin, and  _ yes,  _ he’d counted.

Sure, Nursey’s shared a few genuine complaints with him, and he has seemed a little more tired than usual, and he saw the flash of disappointment on his face when he’d told Dex and Chowder he couldn’t play again until the spring, but  – 

Dex stops. What is he thinking? This is  _ Nursey.  _ He was always going to act chill and unaffected about the whole thing, regardless of how he really felt. Dex was stupid to not figure it out earlier.

Dex fidgets with the frayed thread at the end of his blanket. “Look, I’m  – I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole the past few weeks.” Nursey shifts to face him, and still looking up at the bottom slats of the top bunk, Dex flushes at the proximity. “I didn’t know how much it was bothering you  – mainly because you’ve been a bit of an asshole about it, but whatever. And granted, you  _ do  _ always leave your shit everywhere, and the pie thing was  _ definitely  _ over the line, so it’s not like I’m not  – ”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re terrible at apologies?”

Dex sighs and finally flips over to face Nursey, who’s watching him with an annoyed look but an almost amused smile. “Yeah, okay. I’m sorry. You do a lot of shit that gets on my nerves, but I’ve been blowing things way out of proportion, and that was a dick move, so, uh. Yeah.”

Nursey snorts a little bit, and Dex rolls his eyes. “Shut up.”

“Thank you for your apology,” Nursey says in a surprisingly sincere voice. He doesn’t say it’s okay, or that he accepts said apology, or that he’s sorry, too, and maybe that’s what Dex deserves. He does, however, say, “Admittedly, the moldy pie was my bad,” and Dex laughs, and that’s enough.

“You’ve got a month until the cast is off, right?” Dex asks in the brief yet less awkward silence that ensues. He feels more than sees Nursey nod. “Well, that’s not too long, right?”

He hopes it sounds comforting, but Dex is horrible at that kind of stuff, and his voice sounds forced even to his own ears. Nursey doesn’t notice, though, or maybe just appreciates the effort, because he says quietly, “Yeah.”

“And at least you can play again in the spring,” Dex continues. “That’s when we’ll really need you to help us get to the playoffs, anyway.”

It’s too dark for Dex to recognize the expression on Nursey’s face, and he says, in sort of a funny voice, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Dex swallows. “C’mon, Nursey, you’re like...one of the best players we have.”

It doesn’t feel like any sort of important revelation, because Nursey would be stupid to not have realized that already, but he smiles anyway. “Thanks.”

“Sure,” Dex says, feeling awkward again, and turns away to look back up at the bottom slats of the bunk above him.

“It’s just…” Nursey begins quietly, and then hesitates. “I don’t know. The cast sucks, and it’s really frustrating, but like you said, it’ll be off in a month, so it’s not the end of the world. Even though I know I’ve been a bit of a pain in the ass about it. But you were so angry and annoyed with me that I felt like I needed to  – ” He breaks off, then finishes quietly, “I felt like you didn’t care, I guess.” 

“What?” Dex says, so loud that Nursey flinches next to him. “Are you serious? Of course I cared.”

“You have a funny way of showing it,” Nursey says bitterly, and when Dex makes a noise of protest, he continues, “Dude, you’ve literally acted like I injured myself just to make your life miserable this whole time.”

Admittedly, there have been times where Dex has had that very thought himself, especially the moments where Nursey looked particularly smug after asking Dex to hand him a textbook. But the thought never lasted very long, and in spite of how frustrated Nursey made him sometimes, it didn’t mean that he didn’t care.

Because sure, he’d rolled his eyes over Nursey’s clumsiness the second he’d fallen. But he still remembers with perfect clarity the panicked feeling still sitting in his chest from when Nursey had crashed into the boards earlier in the game, remembers the panic growing when he’d heard Nursey’s whine from halfway across the ice when he’d hit the ground, remembers nearly dropping his stick in the effort to skate over to him, too distracted with thoughts of broken bones and concussions and  _ Please be okay, please,  _ to worry about anything else. 

“I don’t  – ” Dex begins, and then breaks off, uncertain on how to continue without making anything painfully obvious. “I’m  – I was annoyed with you because you were being frustrating. But I was frustrated in the beginning because I – I don’t know. I was worried about you.”

Dex sees Nursey blink at him. “Really?” He sounds doubtful.

“Yes!” Dex insists, suddenly feeling angry and defensive. “You’re my partner and my friend, of course I was worried, you asshole. I’m not  – I just  – I don’t know how to express regular emotions, or whatever,” he says, awkward and haltingly. “As you have clearly figured out by now.”

Nursey snorts to himself. “Yeah, well, same.”

Dex snorts back. 

“Look, can we just...truce?” Nursey asks. “Promise to give each other a break? Like, I’ll stop egging you on if you stop freaking out every time I happen to forget to throw a shirt in the laundry basket?”

Dex considers this. “So, you admit that you are occasionally egging me on?”

“I admit nothing.”

Dex rolls his eyes, but can’t quite prevent the grin that spreads across his face. “Yes, whatever, fine. Truce.”

Their room is almost pitch black, but Dex can just about make out Nursey’s answering smile. “Chill.”

Dex rolls his eyes again, just because he’s legally obligated to. “Goodnight, Nursey.”

“Night, Dex,” Nursey says, rolling over, and after Dex finally settles into a position that makes sharing a Twin XL bed with another 6’1” hockey player almost comfortable, he falls asleep. 

He drifts in and out throughout the night, and every time he wakes up he can’t help but feel that something’s off. But he feels so warm and comfortable each time that he ends up falling back asleep before he ever figures out what it is.

  
  
  
  
  


Nursey is a very tactile person. He always has been, and with everyone  – slinging an arm around Tango’s shoulder, lifting Bitty off the ground to thank him for a pie, giving Chowder a bear hug just because he can. 

So really, Dex doesn’t know why he’s surprised when he wakes up to Nursey’s good arm wrapped around his waist and his forehead gently pressed against the back of his neck.

It takes a long time for Dex’s still half asleep brain to figure out the predicament he’s in, but once he finally gets it together enough to realize he and Nursey are literally  _ spooning,  _ he freezes. 

He doesn’t withdraw, not immediately, even though he knows he should. Partly, he’s afraid he’ll wake Nursey up, though of course he’d rather die than have Nursey wake up in the middle of...this. But at the same time, the small part of Dex’s brain that’s still asleep doesn’t want to move at all. He feels comfortable, and warm, and maybe it’s embarrassing, but it’s almost like...they fit together, almost. 

Still, he can’t lie here forever, and he’s in the middle of trying to figure out what to do when he hears Nursey yawn behind him. He expects him to freeze, or apologize, or immediately pull away. Instead, his arm across Dex’s waist tightens, bringing the two of them even closer. 

_ Of course,  _ Dex thinks irritably, even as he feels his face grow hot.

He clears his throat. “Nursey.”

Nursey yawns again, rubbing his face against Dex’s shoulder. “Hmm?” He says sleepily into his shirt.

Dex squirms. “Nursey,” he says again, louder.

Nursey shifts around from behind him, then stills. Dex, still frozen from earlier, waits, and then finally, Nursey rolls over and pulls his arm away.

Dex lets out a breath he hadn’t even known he was holding, and adamantly ignores the small part of him that misses the warmth draped across his back.

“Sorry,” Nursey mumbles.

“‘S fine,” Dex hears himself say.

“I’m a sleep cuddler,” Nursey continues awkwardly.

“I can see that.”

They’re silent for a moment, until Nursey pipes up, “Never pegged you as a little spoon, though.”

Dex flips over and whacks Nursey in the face with his pillow, and Nursey laughs, and suddenly things are okay again.

  
  
  
  
  


Living with Nursey is better, easier, after that. Nursey isn’t quite as demanding when he asks for help, doesn’t pick as many fights, and doesn’t try so hard to get under Dex’s skin. For his part, Dex tries harder to be more patient and not snap at Nursey over every little thing, and so far, it’s been working.

They still argue, of course, but not as often, and they both make an effort to be a little kinder with each other, and, well. It’s nice.

They don’t talk about the night they spent in Dex’s bed, and it doesn’t happen again, and Dex tries very valiantly not to think about Nursey’s quiet voice next to his ear, and the way his arm had fit around his waist.

He’s successful, for the most part. 

But he still remembers the things Nursey had said that night, the hurt and frustration in his voice, and he makes an effort to at least try. He offers to help Nursey with his essays, despite his own growing pile of homework, he gives him a boost up to the top bunk every now and then, and he passes him his textbooks when he needs them, sometimes without even Nursey asking.

And if Dex savors every gentle and grateful smile Nursey sends him afterwards, well. No one else needs to know.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twitter for random nurseydex tweets and crying abt check please ending @scoopstroops


End file.
